According to folklore, in 1670, in [[Cologne]], [[Germany]], the choirmaster at [[Cologne Cathedral]], wishing to remedy the noise caused by children in his [[Church (building)|church]] during the [[Nativity scene|Living Crèche]] tradition of [[Christmas Eve]], asked a local candy maker for some [[stick candy|sweet sticks]] for them.<ref name=History>{{cite book|title=Introduction to Food Science|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kouqQnLl7V4C&pg=PA405&dq=history+of+candy+cane+christian&hl=en&ei=W7TxTY6bLIXw0gGwvMTBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20candy%20cane%20christian&f=false|quote=In 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral gave sugar sticks to his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into the shepherds crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small pine tree with paper ornaments and candy canes.|author=R. O. Parker|date=19 October 2001|publisher=[[Cengage Learning|Delmar]]|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Itihaas>{{cite book|title=Christmas Legends to Remember|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ikyr6IrlD5wC&pg=PA114&dq=history+of+candy+cane+jesus&hl=en&ei=SLXxTcbbMvKq0AGzo6ynBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Around 1670, a choirmaster of a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, handed out sugar sticks to his young singers. At Christmas, in honor of the birth of Jesus, the choirmaster bent the sugar sticks at one end, forming the shape of a shepherd's crook. These white candy canes helped keep the children quiet during the long Christmas Eve Nativity service. From Germany, the use of candy shepherds' staffs spread across Europe, where plays of the Christmas Nativity were accompanied by gifts of the sweet "shepherds' crooks."|publisher=[[David C. Cook]]|year=2002|author=Helen Haidle|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Origin>{{cite book|title=Great Traditions of Christmas|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mo8vgZoROl8C&pg=PT38&dq=history+of+candy+cane+christian&hl=en&ei=W7TxTY6bLIXw0gGwvMTBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20candy%20cane%20christian&f=false|quote=Church history records that in 1670 the choirmaster at Germany's Cologne Cathedral was faced with a problem that still challenges parents, teachers, and choir directors today. In ancient Cologne, as well as in thousands of churches today, the children in the choir often grew restless and noisy during the long services. He sought out a local candy maker, and after looking over the treats in his shop, the music leader paused in front of some white sweet sticks. Yet the choirmaster wondered if the priests and parents would allow him to give the children in his choir candy to eat during a church service. The choirmaster asked the candy maker if he could bend the sticks and make a crook at the top of each one. The candy would not be just a treat; it would be a teaching tool. The choirmaster decided that the candy's pure white color would represent the purity of Christ. The crook would serve as a way for the children to remember the story of the shepherds who came to visit the baby Jesus. The shepherds carried staffs or canes, and with the hook at the top of the stick, the candy now looked like a cane. |author=Ace Collins|date=20 April 2010|publisher=Zondervan|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Newspaper>{{cite book|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UzIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WigEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4678%2C2147419|title=It's Christmas Season: My, How Sweet It Is!|publisher=The Milwaukee Journal|date=13 December 1968|accessdate=20 December 2011|quote=In 1670, a choirmaster at Germany's Cologne cathedral bent the ends of some sugar sticks to represent shepherds' crooks, and distributed them to youngsters. The practice spread.}}</ref> In order to justify the practice of giving candy to children during [[worship service]]s, he asked the candy maker to add a crook to the top of each stick, which would help children remember the shepherds who paid visit to [[infant Jesus]].<ref name=History>{{cite book|title=Introduction to Food Science|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kouqQnLl7V4C&pg=PA405&dq=history+of+candy+cane+christian&hl=en&ei=W7TxTY6bLIXw0gGwvMTBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20candy%20cane%20christian&f=false|quote=In 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral gave sugar sticks to his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into the shepherds crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small pine tree with paper ornaments and candy canes.|author=R. O. Parker|date=19 October 2001|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Origin>{{cite book|title=Great Traditions of Christmas|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mo8vgZoROl8C&pg=PT38&dq=history+of+candy+cane+christian&hl=en&ei=W7TxTY6bLIXw0gGwvMTBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20candy%20cane%20christian&f=false|quote=Church history records that in 1670 the choirmaster at Germany's Cologne Cathedral was faced with a problem that still challenges parents, teachers, and choir directors today. In ancient Cologne, as well as in thousands of churches today, the children in the choir often grew restless and noisy during the long services. He sought out a local candy maker, and after looking over the treats in his shop, the music leader paused in front of some white sweet sticks. Yet the choirmaster wondered if the priests and parents would allow him to give the children in his choir candy to eat during a church service. The choirmaster asked the candy maker if he could bend the sticks and make a crook at the top of each one. The candy would not be just a treat; it would be a teaching tool. The choirmaster decided that the candy's pure white color would represent the sinless life of Christ. The crook would serve as a way for the children to remember the story of the shepherds who came to visit the baby Jesus. The shepherds carried staffs or canes, and with the hook at the top of the stick, the candy now looked like a cane. |author=Ace Collins|date=20 April 2010|publisher=Zondervan|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Itihaas>{{cite book|title=Christmas Legends to Remember|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ikyr6IrlD5wC&pg=PA114&dq=history+of+candy+cane+jesus&hl=en&ei=SLXxTcbbMvKq0AGzo6ynBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Around 1670, a choirmaster of a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, handed out sugar sticks to his young singers. At Christmas, in honor of the birth of Jesus, the choirmaster bent the sugar sticks at one end, forming the shape of a shepherd's crook. These white candy canes helped keep the children quiet during the long Christmas Eve Nativity service. From Germany, the use of candy shepherds' staffs spread across Europe, where plays of the Christmas Nativity were accompanied by gifts of the sweet "shepherds' crooks."|publisher=[[David C. Cook]]|year=2002|author=Helen Haidle|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref> In addition, he used the white colour of the converted sticks to teach children about the [[Christian]] belief in the [[Perfection of Christ|sinless life of Jesus]].<ref name=Origin>{{cite book|title=Great Traditions of Christmas|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mo8vgZoROl8C&pg=PT38&dq=history+of+candy+cane+christian&hl=en&ei=W7TxTY6bLIXw0gGwvMTBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20candy%20cane%20christian&f=false|quote=Church history records that in 1670 the choirmaster at Germany's Cologne Cathedral was faced with a problem that still challenges parents, teachers, and choir directors today. In ancient Cologne, as well as in thousands of churches today, the children in the choir often grew restless and nosiy during the long services. He sought out a local candy maker, and after looking over the treats in his shop, the music leader paused in front of some white sweet sticks. Yet the choirmaster wondered if the priests and parents would allow him to give the children in his choir candy to eat during a church service. The choirmaster asked the candy maker if he could bend the sticks and make a crook at the top of each one. The candy would not be just a treat; it would be a teaching tool. The choirmaster decided that the candy's pure white color would represent the sinless life of Christ. The crook would serve as a way for the children to remember the story of the shepherds who came to visit the baby Jesus. The shepherds carried staffs or canes, and with the hook at the top of the stick, the candy now looked like a cane. |author=Ace Collins|date=20 April 2010|publisher=Zondervan|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=History>{{cite book|title=Introduction to Food Science|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kouqQnLl7V4C&pg=PA405&dq=history+of+candy+cane+christian&hl=en&ei=W7TxTY6bLIXw0gGwvMTBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20candy%20cane%20christian&f=false|quote=In 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral gave sugar sticks to his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into the shepherds crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small pine tree with paper ornaments and candy canes.|author=R. O. Parker|date=19 October 2001|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Itihaas>{{cite book|title=Christmas Legends to Remember|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ikyr6IrlD5wC&pg=PA114&dq=history+of+candy+cane+jesus&hl=en&ei=SLXxTcbbMvKq0AGzo6ynBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Around 1670, a choirmaster of a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, handed out sugar sticks to his young singers. At Christmas, in honor of the birth of Jesus, the choirmaster bent the sugar sticks at one end, forming the shape of a shepherd's crook. These white candy canes helped keep the children quiet during the long Christmas Eve Nativity service. From Germany, the use of candy shepherds' staffs spread across Europe, where plays of the Christmas Nativity were accompanied by gifts of the sweet "shepherds' crooks."|publisher=[[David C. Cook]]|year=2002|author=Helen Haidle|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref> From Germany, the candy canes spread to other parts of Europe, where they were handed out during [[Nativity play|plays reenacting the Nativity]].<ref name=Itihaas>{{cite book|title=Christmas Legends to Remember|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ikyr6IrlD5wC&pg=PA114&dq=history+of+candy+cane+jesus&hl=en&ei=SLXxTcbbMvKq0AGzo6ynBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Around 1670, a choirmaster of a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, handed out sugar sticks to his young singers. At Christmas, in honor of the birth of Jesus, the choirmaster bent the sugar sticks at one end, forming the shape of a shepherd's crook. These white candy canes helped keep the children quiet during the long Christmas Eve Nativity service. From Germany, the use of candy shepherds' staffs spread across Europe, where plays of the Christmas Nativity were accompanied by gifts of the sweet "shepherds' crooks."|publisher=[[David C. Cook]]|year=2002|author=Helen Haidle|accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Newspaper>{{cite book|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UzIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WigEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4678%2C2147419|title=It's Christmas Season: My, How Sweet It Is!|publisher=The Milwaukee Journal|date=13 December 1968|accessdate=20 December 2011|quote=In 1670, a choirmaster at Germany's Cologne cathedral bent the ends of some sugar sticks to represent shepherds' crooks, and distributed them to youngsters. The practice spread.}}</ref>

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According to [[Snopes.com]], a web site that researches urban legends, Internet rumors, e-mail forwards, and other stories of unknown or questionable origin, deems the account false, citing its "significant historical problems" and the inability to provide conclusive evidence that verifies the account.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/candycane.asp#d3YLpzE3I5VdKLwB.99 |title=Origin of the Candy Cane |publisher=Snopes.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-22}}</ref>

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According to [[Snopes.com]], a web site that researches urban legends, Internet rumors, e-mail forwards, and other stories of unknown or questionable origin, deems the accounts of a religious significance to the creation of candy canes as false, citing its "significant historical problems" and the inability to provide conclusive evidence that verifies the account.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/candycane.asp#d3YLpzE3I5VdKLwB.99 |title=Origin of the Candy Cane |publisher=Snopes.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-22}}</ref>